Janice stood firmly, staring at Hanish. He was hitting his fist against the dry wall and was trying to break the house down. He was still weak and feverish. She wanted to stop him, but felt like it wasn’t her place to intervene. She even noticed he wasn’t doing the damage. He believed he was. He was rabid and screaming, throwing things about. But it was weak throws. She felt quite embarrassed for him. She squenched her face and looked away from him. She realized that because of all this, she had become numb and mentally exhausted. She knew he was mad, mad at her but it was too late. What he had done was done. ” You knew all along,” he screamed

  ” It was hard not to tell you,” She said, grabbing him to calm him down. He started crying and fell into her arms.

  ” I had to do it,” she whispered as she held him tight.

  ” Why didn’t you leave..” he whimpered into her shoulder. If she had left, maybe he would have been brave enough to end his own life. She closed her eyes and began to tell him about that day.

  Janice sat up the table for dinner time, she was sitting the table with fried chicken and mash potatoes, corn as a side. She was proud of her work. She then heard a commotion upstairs. She looked to see Lila coming down the stairs. She was panicked and rushing as fast as she could. Janice stopped her, noticing she was carrying suitcases. “We have to leave!” Lila said to her.

  “Why?” Janice was confused and hugged Lila tight. Lila held up the remote to the living room TV and turned it on to the news.

  The screen was almost static, but they could only hear screaming. People were gone by that point. The news spoke of the outbreak, but they were silent about the undead. They spoke of a virus, an infection making people sick enough to kill them, but it was death upon exposure, they told the people.

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  “People are dying in droves. They told people to get to the bunkers, but they are saying we need to evacuate now,” Lila said, but then there was a knock on the door. Lila groaned as she opened the door; she was shocked to see a man in faded blue jeans and a plaid shirt standing in front of them.

  “Ivan…” both ladies said, grabbing each other for safety.

  “What are you doing here?” Lila spoke, her voice trembling with fear. Janice knew, as Lila did, that her brother was capable of anything. He looked at them, then coughed blood down his shirt. They both recoiled.

  “You’re sick!” Lila exclaimed, a chilling realization washing over her: they were likely moments away from death.

  Janice noticed her brother was dazed and disoriented. “Ivan, get the fuck out of here!” Janice shouted, shoving him in the chest. He swung at her, and she retaliated with a punch to the face. He grabbed her, throwing her against the wall. She landed hard, her back seizing in pain. Unable to move, she watched helplessly as her brother seized Lila, who fought against him. The sounds of the struggle drew Marcus, Lila’s sixteen-year-old son, down the stairs. Though young, he possessed his mother’s fiery rage.

  “Let her go!” Marcus shouted at Ivan.

  “No, don’t involve yourself,” Janice choked out, but Ivan moved like a bird. He darted up the stairs after the boy, snapping his neck with a swift, brutal action.

  Lila screamed and charged after Ivan, swinging her bag at him. Janice, broken and realizing Lila could handle herself, slid along the wall towards the kitchen, desperately trying to slip unnoticed into the pantry.

  Peeking through a small opening, paralyzed with fear, Janice watched Lila fight Ivan with all her might. Distracted, Ivan noticed the meal on the table, and animal instinct took over. He began to devour it. Seizing the opportunity, Lila grabbed a knife from the counter and, with the last of her strength, plunged it into his neck. He collapsed, immobile.

  Lila fell to the kitchen floor. Janice knew it was too late. She watched the woman she loved dying in front of her. Thirty minutes later, Hanish ran in, but he didn’t check the pantry.

  Janice reminded him of what had ensued. Still scared, Janice watched Lila stand up in amazement. She realized that Lila hadn’t died, but in that moment, Lila was no longer the woman she loved. After the gunshot, Hanish had walked back through the house, yet he left without checking the pantry. Hours later, Janice mustered her strength and managed to burn the bodies of Ivan and Marcus. When she went to retrieve Lila, she discovered Lila was gone from the yard. Janice looked around and saw her dragging herself toward the tree. Janice considered what she was going to do, but she couldn’t bring herself to hurt Lila, for she cared too much for her.

  Hanish sat back, watching as Janice’s heart broke again before him. He knew the same pain she was in. “If I had known, I would have…”